82 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Aris^ and Letters. 



of woman. If not every wrong wliich tlie clearest minded 

 can see that legislation can touch is instantly righted, all can 

 see that there is a tendency in legislation in the hands in which 

 it is now placed, to rectify all known injustice to woman. 

 But legislation has not yet managed to anticipate all the wants 

 of man. It will hardly be able to do so in the case of women. 

 If women have wrongs that are subject to remedy by legisla- 

 tion, let it be remembered that the general law is that wrongs 

 must be endured till they are smitten into the general sense .of 

 society as wrongs, before it is wise for legislation to meddle 

 with them. We have been so hasty to execute any wish 

 of woman that the wisdom of some things done is questioned. 

 If any thing has appeared clear, it is the right of a woman to 

 dispose of her own property. But even the wisdom of that 

 was challenged by a woman the other day in a prominent pe- 

 riodical. 



It was claimed that the right of a widow to dispose of her 

 homestead, in practice brought evil, and that such right should 

 be taken from her. Let it be generally felt throughout socie- 

 ty that it is an evil, and does any one doubt that its correction 

 can be secured through the present system of legislation; 

 though to do so would be just to box the compass in the at- 

 tempt of legislation to meet the wants of woman. The ques- 

 tion recurs, do women to secure fitting legislation for them- 

 selves as a class need to assume the burdens of suffrage ? 



There is one other respect in which the physiology of moth- 

 erhood is seen to have even a more important bearing upon 

 this suffrage question than in the matters already considered. 

 What has thus far been treated relates almost entirely to the 

 welfare of the mother herself. We shall look now to the wel- 

 fare of her offspring. The Saviour, on an important occasion 

 in his teaching, took a little child and "set him in the midst." 

 If we oftener imitated his example in social questions, we 

 should less often commit blunders. The child is the key to 

 the whole position. If we are worthy the name of Social 



